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Tuesday, March 15, 2011

I loved the smoked paprika in this CrockPot soup with red lentils, chickpeas, and tomatoes.

I've been loving smoked paprika lately, an infatuation that started when my friend Margarethe sent me a recipe for Spicy Roasted Butternut Squash with Smoked Paprika. Then I got inspired about creating a crockpot soup with smoked paprika when I spotted a recipe for yellow split pea soup with smoked paprika in More Make It Fast, Cook It Slow, by Stephanie from A Year of Slow Cooking. This was another one of those recipes where it took me a few tries to get it just right, but I served this version to my brother Mark and his wife Lisa when they stopped by on Saturday, and they both gave it a thumbs up. And no matter how much we long for spring, you know there'll still be more cold wintery days before warm weather arrives, so make this soup in your crockpot next time it's a cold day where you are.

Saute a generous amount of chopped onion in olive oil, then garlic, smoked paprika and other spices and cook 2-3 minutes more.

Add the onions and spices to the crockpot along with red lentils, chickpeas, and chicken stock. (Or use vegetable stock if you want a vegan soup.)

Let the soup cook for 2-3 hours on high, until the lentils are very soft and starting to dissolve.

The lentils and chickpeas should both be quite soft when the soup has cooked this long.

Remove about half of the soup and puree completely with an immersion blender, food processor, or blender. (This photo is a giant 8-cup glass measuring cup with about 4 cups of soup.)

Stir the pureed soup back into the CrockPot, season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper, let cook about 15 minutes more and serve hot. Mark and I liked it with a generous dollop of sour cream and Lisa ate hers plain.

Crockpot Recipe for Red Lentil, Chickpea, and Tomato Soup with Smoked Paprika
(Makes about 8 servings, recipe created by Kalyn)

(I used a 3.5 quart CrockPot. I haven't frozen this soup, but I have no doubt that it freezes well, so make a double batch if you only have a big CrockPot.)

Add onion-spice mixture to CrockPot, then rinse out the frying pan with 1 cup of the stock and add to crockpot along with red lentils, rinsed chickpeas, and rest of stock. Cook on high for 2-3 hours, or until lentils are starting to soften and dissolve into the soup. (I cooked mine for 2 1/2 hours. Cooking time will depend partly on how old the lentils are.)

When lentils are starting to soften, add the 2 cans of diced tomatoes with juice. Cook for 1-2 hours more on high, or until the lentils and chickpeas are both quite soft. Then remove about 1/2 the soup to a bowl (or the large 8-cup measuring cup I had worked perfectly.) Puree the soup you removed using an immersion blender, food processor, or blender. (If you're using a food processor or blender, be very careful with the hot soup, pureeing in batches if necessary.)

Stir the pureed soup back into the soup in the CrockPot; taste and add more salt or fresh ground black pepper if desired. Let soup cook about 15 minutes more, then serve hot, with sour cream of plain yogurt if desired.

Red lentils, chickpeas, and tomatoes are all low-glycemic ingredients, approved for any phase of the South Beach Diet. However dried beans and legumes are limited to 1/3 to 1/2 cup serving for phase one. This soup has other ingredients besides the lentils and chickpeas, but I would limit to a small serving for phase one.

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I just made a pot of lentil and veggie soup this morning - mmmmm, I can't wait until lunch! I absolutely adore smoked paprika and usually buy mine from Penzeys as well (we have a Penzeys store here in Santa Monica).

Bookmarking! I love cooking any type of lentils in the slow cooker. They dissolve all on their own. And because I'm not really crazy about chickpeas, it's great for me to combine them with something I do love.

I didn't use a crock pot because I was cooking the chickpeas in it. :) But I'm heading in to finish up the soup. This is exactly what I've been craving this week. Red lentils were on sale a few weeks ago at Sunflower and I stocked up. Can't get enough of them! I am really excited to try it with the paprika. Mmm...

That looks so good right now, Kalyn. Just got back from walking our dog and you're right, there's a lot of weather left that still warrants a good hearty soup. I love both the smoked paprika and the chickpeas in this recipe. Sounds like something my support group will love at the end of the month. The crockpot factor makes it so much easier for me, too. :-)

I feel kind of deprived that I've never had smoked paprika before but now I'm definitely going to have to give it a try! This soup sounds delicious and is full of some of my very favorite ingredients - chickpeas, red lentils...yum.

It makes me so happy to see this recipe - I just love smoked paprika and couldn't live without it now - often add it to any food - I find it means I have less salt - this soup looks delicious and nutritious - will be bookmarking it (and thanks for the link)

Hi Kalyn,It's my first time visiting your blog and I made this recipe. It was absolutely delicious and comforting. I'm always looking for ways to use smoked paprika and it tasted great in this soup. Thanks for sharing your recipe!

This may sound like a dumb question and maybe the answer was already there but I passed over it: What size cans are the tomatoes? I am heading to Penzey's today for the smoked paprika and hoping to make the soup this weekend as our temperatures will be dipping back down into the 30s - ugh! But that is great soup weather!

Hi Kalyn - Dumb girl here...are red lentils a dried thing in the dried beans aisle? I've only ever had heat and eat pre-seasoned plain old brown lentils from trader joes. And do they count as beans on south beach? That white bean julia child hummus is my downfall! I want it every day! Makes it hard to limit my bean-carbs! Thanks!

I usually find the red lentils at a natural foods store or Indian market, but they're great in soup. Yes, that counts as a dried bean but in soup like this with lots of other ingredients you have have a little more than the 1/3 - 1/2 cup serving.

Made this last night to lift my spirits after the cold, blustery "spring" day. Absolutely delicious! One of the yummiest meatless soups I've made in a while. I added some heat by mixing in a couple teaspoons of Mexican-style chili powder with the onion sautee.

I got some red lentils specifically for this recipe, and I'm glad I did. They are much milder than the brown ones I typically use.

Not only did this soup turn out to be fantastic... if I had remembered I used my last can of petite diced tomatoes instead of having to chop some stewed tomatoes... this would have been an incredibly quick and easy recipe. Did mine on the stove top because I was pressed for time, but I have a feeling it would be even better in a crock pot.

This soup was even better the second day. I used Italian stewed tomatoes, which turned out amazing, so I think I'll use that again when I make this soup AGAIN this weekend! So good. I think this is my favorite recipe of yours so far. :)

New to South Beach diet and looking for creative ways to enjoy phase 1...I put the ingredients into a calorie counter as well as the serving suggestion and the carbs for this soup are 32 per serving...it seems a bit high, but it does look like a good soup!

Deanna, the South Beach Diet does not count carbs. Instead it's based on the glycemic index, a measure of how quickly foods turn into sugar in the bloodstream. Beans and lentils are slow-digesting carbs, so they are approved for all phases for South Beach (although in smaller amounts for phase one.)

ive never bought red lentils before, also never tasted them so here i am at 30 trying new recipes. i took out your page and even though the husband and i havent tried them or chickpeas, i'm going to try this!! My question is...do i buy canned lentils or dryed lentils?

Charlotte, I am so glad you enjoyed the recipe. Unfortunately I can't let people post links here for other blogs or FaceBook recipe sites. If I do, my blog will be over-run with spam from people "advertising" their sites. Thanks for understanding.

I was excited to make this tonight...nice, thick & hearty. The flavor was pretty mild for our family so I added extra smoked paprika, cumin, red pepper flakes, & chili powder. I also added chopped kale & bacon. Definitely a keeper! Thank you!

I love love love your site and this recipe! Just had it last night, it was amazing. I had an idea, I use my tablet in the kitchen for recipes, and I LOVE the fact that you have pictures for each step, however, it would be SUPER handy if when you are writing what ingredients to add with each step, if you put the amount. Just an idea! I find myself scrolling up and down from the steps to the ingredient list to see how much of this, that, etc. Feel free to ignore the idea if you think it's a waste of time though, haha! I value your site tremendously regardless!

Hi Jess, thanks for the nice feedback. I will think about that suggestion. Mostly I wonder if it will seem boring to people if it seems like I'm repeating the recipe twice, but hadn't thought about how you are using it.

I've made this soup many, many times, and it's delicious! It seems every third time I make it, I forget that the tomatoes don't go in with the rest of the ingredients. I can't remember if there's a difference in how it turns out. I'm a novice cook, and this got me wondering what the reason is for waiting to add the tomatoes. Do they get overcooked? Thanks again for all of your great recipes. I've made several of them over the years!

Glad you are enjoying the recipes. I can only guess on what amount someone will eat when I'm calculating the servings, but since the 3.5 quart slow cooker is nearly full in the photo, I'd calculate if you divided this into 8 servings, each is about 10-12 ounces. Quite a bit of that would be liquid.

I'm so happy you're taking the time to comment on Kalyn's Kitchen! I love hearing from people who stop by, especially if you're sharing feedback or asking questions about a recipe I've posted here.

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